For A Friend

I thought I’d write a quick blog on my friend Justin Richards, who died on 28 June, following a decade living with early-onset fronto-temporal dementia. Just to get my feelings and memories down while I have a gap between projects.

I would’ve first become aware of his work through his Doctor Who novels. Because they were amongst the best. I remember System Shock taking place at a country mansion that was now being used as a computer research centre, almost entirely unlike IBM Hursley where Justin worked. And I particularly enjoyed – and I’m not sure enjoyed is a big enough word for it – The Sands of Time. You know all the ‘timey-wimey’ stuff in Blink and the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who? The Sands of Time did it all first.

And it was books like The Sands of Time that inspired me to have a go at submitting my own idea for a Doctor Who book – when they were published by BBC Books Justin was the editor of The Past Doctor Adventures. This was around the time that the initial wave of novel writers were going off to work on television soap operas and so Justin was on the look out for new writers to take over. My submission was a story called The Beautiful Death, which was timey-wimey to the nth degree, to the point of being a farce, and a few weeks after I sent it in, I got a letter back from Justin, who had been passed my submission from the ‘slush pile’ by Jac Rayner. This letter began with “Many thanks for your proposal The Beautiful Death which I very much enjoyed reading”, continued with two pages of notes, mentioned in passing that “Your sample prose is fine” and ended with the paragraph “You can probably guess from the level of comment that revised version of this proposal, accommodating as many of the points I’ve made as you think are merited”.

You cannot imagine my excitement at reading that. I felt like Charlie Bucket getting the ticket to the chocolate factory. I was on my way to getting to write a Doctor Who book! And his notes were all helpful – he suggested doing a flow-chart to keep track of the time-travel, just as he had done with The Sands of Time, so I duly worked one out over five stapled together sheets of paper (it was that complicated). But looking at it now, I’m struck by those final words. “As many of the points I’ve made as you think are merited”. He wasn’t telling me what to do, making a commission conditional on following his suggestions. He was, if anything, inviting me to disagree if I had a better idea.

And that, I think, was very typical of him. Anyway, I went off and wrote the book that became Festival of Death, and because it was my first one I found it terribly difficult and fell behind the deadlines, which Justin seemed to tolerate because I was sending him each chapter as I wrote it (so he knew the book was being written) and because I think he realised that I wasn’t sending him first drafts, I was sending him the fifth or sixth drafts, so he wouldn’t have much work to do on it. Looking at his emails now (I still have them), he’s keen to reassure me that it’s “going very well indeed” and his notes are all to do with tips on avoiding pitfalls rather than the plot.

I got the chance to thank him a while later, when I met him for the first time at the Big Finish launch party (to celebrate the release of The Sirens of Time – I was there because I was on the list to write one in the next year). I remember that evening very well, mostly because I didn’t know anyone there apart from Gary Russell and was far too intimidated to try to join the conversations of the great and the good. But Justin, bless him, sought me out and chatted to me, and because I was literally Jonny No-Mates he let me look through the script of Red Dawn, covered with Gary’s red-pen notes, which I found fascinating and useful.

Of course, I later became friends with all of the great and the good, because writing a Doctor Who book turned out to be the passport to a new social life, going to the Tavern and whatnot. It is no understatement to say that it changed my life, very much for the better. And getting that commission also gave me confidence in my ability as a writer – of which I had previously had very little – which led to it becoming my career. It all started with Justin, so if you want someone to blame...

Anyway, let’s fast-forward. He commissioned me to write two more Doctor Who books, both for the Eighth Doctor in what was generally regarded as the ‘more important’ range. Justin had recently taken it over and relaunched with a fantastic novel called The Burning which I used as the basis for the structure for Anachrophobia; completely different plot but with the highs and lows at the same points. And after Festival of Death, I made a point of handing it on time. And then, in 2003, I received this email from Justin:

“I have a need for a startlingly good EDA proposal starring the Doctor, Fitz and Trix in a standalone adventure of incredible excitement and awe-inspiring novelty told with the use of the best prose to be had in this part of the galaxy.

So naturally, I thought of you.

No, this isn't a competition where you later discover, like with Readers Digest, that 27 other people were told the same thing and we're looking for a 'winner.'

I am looking for a winner, but I'm asking you if you have any ideas and inclination.  If so, let's try and make it happen.  If not, then that's fine, I'll move on down the list (and yes, you were top of it).”

How could I refuse an email like that? Even though I had, for a brief shining moment, television production companies badgering me to hand in the scripts they had paid me for, I couldn’t turn down the chance to write one last Doctor Who book. And I did think it would be the last; not just my last Doctor Who story but the last one of all, as the book range was on the brink of cancellation. That one was The Tomorrow Windows. Justin:

“Thanks for all the hard work - I know it's been a slog, to say the least, but I think it's paid off.  A well-constructed, amusing and perceptive novel that I reckon the punters will really enjoy.  (Well, all except those who have already decided they won't enjoy anything no matter what...)”

Looking through my emails, the next time I met Justin would’ve been at Dave Owen’s stag do. I’m pretty sure I was there but I remember nothing about it. But, like the 1960s, if you remember Dave Owen’s stag do, you weren’t there. Justin:

“For those who missed it, thanks for the warnings and apologies and be assured that I passed on your regards/sympathies/congratulations etc as appropriate.  Just to make you feel even better about it, we had a terrific time with topics of conversation ranging from marriage, fatherhood and babies, an interesting and appropriate description of the size of Katy Manning's mouth, where there are bus stops near Crystal Palace Park, who actually ordered what food, wine or beer decisions, strips clubs around the world, Day of Armageddon (a Doctor Who episode, not next Saturday), and other topics too numerous and rude to mention.”

I do remember Dave Owen’s wedding, though, and spending a lot of time chatting with Justin. I remember his sons had brought along a load of books and seemed to read about three each during the course of the dinner. He was clearly bringing them up correctly.

After that... I saw Justin a few times, at other parties and weddings – including my own – and I’d let him know what I thought of the latest The Invisible Detective book. The Invisible Detective was a range of books for the Young Adult market set in the 1930s which somehow, and I don’t know how this happened, managed to include lots of Doctor Who in-jokes; you know, there’d be an Egyptian mummy in the London sewers, that sort of thing. Sadly Justin never finished the series but that’s publishing for you.

I knew he still had me on the list to write Doctor Who books, cos he told me so - “I think the right opportunity will present itself before too long. You are certainly on my list :-)” and because roughly once a year I’d get an email from him checking my availability for something that was purely hypothetical but which needed to be written over the next six weeks. That’s also publishing for you.

But it turned out the next thing we’d work on would be Jago & Litefoot. He asked me to write an episode for nearly all the seasons – I skipped three, four and eight and retired due to creative exhaustion after series ten. It sort of settled into a pattern, with me writing either the first or third story of each box set – the easy ones, because it would be either introducing stuff or going-on-a-self-contained-detour – while Justin did the hard work of tying things together and paying them off in all the episode fours.

What I remember mostly about the process, though, would be that for each series Justin would put together these incredibly detailed Writers’ Guides, with suggested settings, information about all the characters and what should happen in each episode – for instance:

5.1 – Get Jago!

In which we find Litefoot and Jago have settled into 1968, with help from Ellie, and are about to meet the descendent of an old colleague...

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Main Cast: Jago, Litefoot, Ellie, Sacker

Guest Cast: 2 others

Brief Appearance by:  Guinevere Godiva

Date:  May 1968

After the opening scenes of Episode 1, we rejoin Jago and Litefoot several months later... Maybe we enter their world through the experiences of DS Sacker, who is investigating Ellie as part of the Kray Tiwns case...  This leads him to Litefoot and then – to his surprise – to the rising star of TV Jago.

Sacker finds the pair of them (and to a point Ellie) rather odd.  He is intrigued to discover that Ellie has bought an antiquarian bookshop and set up Litefoot as manager.  Does the man have some hold over her – and where did he come from?  When he questions Litefoot, he is amazed to find he is also a friend of Jago: how unlikely is that?  Digging deeper, he is astonished to realise that the two of them seem to him, and bluster about his grandfather…

At some point, Sacker will dig out and check his grandfather’s diaries… then things get really weird. 

Our first encounter with Guinevere Godiva is in this episode, when Jago features Guinevere Godiva’s magic act on his show. In a brief discussion with her afterwards, there is mention of her fascination with the stage magicians of the Victorian era, and Jago’s equivocal reaction intrigues her…

The main story could involve the notorious Kray Twins (perhaps they have discovered Ellie’s secret?) or not.  But it needs to establish our general set-up, and Litefoot’s research into possible ways back to 1893. Perhaps Litefoot might suggest to Sacker how the Kray Twins could be brought down – they were arrested on 8th May 1968 in the hope that once in custody previously silent witnesses would feel safe to testify against them.  This proved to be the case...

The Crystal: During the episode, Jago will reveal to Litefoot that he pocketed a crystal from the cave on Venus when they were planting the explosives.  It’s about the size of an egg and looks like a huge diamond.  If he concentrates, Jago can make it glow faintly.  Litefoot points out that the crystals in the cave stored the mental energy – the minds, indeed – of the ancient Cythereans. It must act like a recording device for the mind...

...which would then be mostly ignored as the writers pitched entirely different stories – in this case, The Age Of Revolution, a thinly-veiled take on the Festival of Light movement. Indeed, I was always amused when the final box set would come out and how wildly different they were to the initial plans – with Justin having to bear the brunt of maintaining continuity and bringing things together. I was also very amused by the Writers’ Guide for Series 9, the one where Jago and Litefoot are on a cruise, which had a list of eight fellow-travellers, which was way more than could possibly be included on the budget, followed by the section on ‘keeping it simple’.

I loved doing Jago & Litefoot, but if I had to name one Doctor Who story that was a labour of love, it would be my Eleventh Doctor novel, Touched by an Angel. Which started with an email from Justin – the subject was an unassuming “Busy?”:

"So, are you up for writing a Who novel, then?   

I can't brief you properly till we've had our Series 6 briefing meeting next month, but we can certainly get thinking. Just need to make sure we don't tread on any 2011-TV-Who toes - once I know where they are wriggling.

Basically, I'd be looking for a Doctor, Amy and Rory story - not sure yet if I want it present day or future / off-Earth (though not in a space station)..."

I pitched several ideas and Justin phoned me up, suggesting I combine two of them and add the Weeping Angels. I’ve blogged about this already here. 

The process was much easier this time – I handed in the book early – and got this response:

“I've finally got round to reading your lovely book, and have a few comments and suggestions, which I've attached.  I hope it all makes sense. As usual, everything I haven't mentioned (ie, almost all of it) is absolutely gob-droppingly brilliant :-)”

I’ve only just noticed the smiley at the end there. I think that was just a happy smiley, not a ‘this is a joke’ smiley. Probably best not to dwell on it.

Anyway, around this time I’d had an idea of writing a book about Shakespeare, where I’d treat his plays in the same way that a science-fiction series episode guide book would treat them. It didn’t go anywhere, and thank god I didn’t waste too much time on it, but I’d sent it to Justin for his thoughts, as he was a fellow Shakespeare buff, which meant he kept me in mind for The Lost Notebooks of William Shakespeare, as it was originally called. Another fun gig.

But what was more significant for my bank balance was that he also got BBC Books to reprint Festival of Death – I’m still getting royalties from it today – and that he asked me to write another Doctor Who novel in 2016. This was a very quick job – I wrote it in January 2017, handing it in on the 31st – and Justin wrote back to say “I’ll get to it as soon as I can”.

And that’s the last email I have from him. I was told to send the book to someone else, and the book was copy-edited by Steve Tribe, who must’ve taken over the project. I didn’t think anything of it; that’s publishing for you.

I did email Justin a few times after that, asking for his help with things, but never heard anything back. I later learned from a mutual friend that Justin had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and had been forced to stop work. I’ve had a family member with dementia, and it can be a cruel disease, not just for the sufferer but for their carers, and it seemed particularly unfair that Justin should have it, because he had such a fabulous memory, and because he still had so many more stories to tell. That was what was taken from us. It’s not unlike to what happened to Terry Pratchett. And I missed seeing him at events in the years since, just to catch up in person, but the other cruelty of dementia is that sufferers can lose the ability to socialise, to recognise their friends and to express themselves.

I thought a lot of him over the past ten years. Particularly during lockdown, which was bad enough for the rest of us, but to go through that with dementia could only have been even harder. And I thought of his family. I always felt that I should let Justin know how much he meant to me, while I still could. And so I sent them this message.

"My wife and I were very sad to hear of Justin’s illness. It is no overstatement to say that I owe my entire writing career, and all of the ensuing friendships, and meeting my wife, to Justin, and his decision to commission me to write Festival of Death all those years ago. The entire course of my life changed when he sent that letter. In terms of moments of sheer joy, reading that letter is up there with getting married and the birth of my son. And he has always been a very good friend to me since, tolerating some late deliveries, and getting me back to write Touched By An Angel, Plague City and all those episodes of Jago & Litefoot. I remain in awe of his patience and kindness. And, needless to say, I have always been a massive admirer of his work, which continues to inspire me.

If you could pass that onto him, it would be much appreciated."

For Justin Richards, 1961-2026

In It For The Money

Well, that last blog was popular. Who knew that so many people (5700 and counting) would want to know about Jeremy Corbyn’s EU referendum campaign. I’m glad I wrote it. I regret – a little – being so cheeky about his supporters – who are really the well-meaning victims of a confidence trick -  but, well, I’m not in the business of winning hearts and minds, I’m just having fun.

Anyway, enough about politics, back to Doctor Who, and the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine which has another The Fact of Fiction by me in it, this time about the 1977 adventure The Sun Makers. It was fun to do, but tough because there aren’t alternative drafts of the story knocking about, and the story has already been quite extensively researched (particularly by Jim Smith for the DVD Production Subtitles). That said, I hope I found some new things to say – there’s some topical references that haven’t been picked up before, and while I couldn’t find any pre-Columbian source for the sun god face in the Gatherer’s Office I did at least find the source of the sun makers’ logo. I also had some fun disproving some repeated-wisdoms about the story – no, the opening shot does not resemble the opening shot of Rudolph Cartier’s production of Nineteen Eighty-Four at all, I’ve checked:

The one thing I didn’t have room to include in the article are my own memories of watching the story, back when I would’ve been four years old. I don’t remember much of it – this was the beginning of a long run of episodes which took place in corridors and which didn’t have any memorable monsters – but I do recall a sense of the hospital-like sterility of the corridors, particularly the one shot on location. I think I remember the bit where they throw the Gatherer off the roof – it’s played and shot as though it’s one of those bits in Monty Python where they throw a dummy out of a tower block, but it’s basically Mussolini being strung up in a petrol station.

The only scene I remember with any clarity – and bear in mind, I remembered absolutely nothing of Image of the Fendahl, Underworld and The Invasion of Time, so I’m not even sure I watched them – is the bit at the end where the Collector is – spoiler warning – revealed to be a green blobby alien (haven’t had one of those for a few weeks) and vanishes down a plughole. Yes, it’s suddenly struck me that they were basically doing the Rutan again, weren’t they? I’m not sure what the point of all this is, except to say that in the days before videos, before novelisations in many cases, the only way you could keep these stories alive was in your memory. A few years on, and I’d remember Destiny of the Daleks and City of Death almost on a shot-for-shot basis (they were repeated, which helped). 

But it’s interesting, I think, how enduring some television memories can be – I’m not sure how many specific moments from my early childhood I remember, it’s all a muddle of places and people – but for years I have been haunted by unplaced memories from shows and films which have turned out to be Quincy’s Quest, a schools adaptation of Mr Humphries and his Inheritance, the musical Carousel, and most embarrassing of all the Rentaghost Christmas special. I think I’ve ticked them all of now, there is nothing outstanding (well, maybe a vague memory of an edition of Emu where they were in a lighthouse, but that’s all mixed up with Horror of Fang Rock).

Anyway, I’ve digressed. The point is, new Doctor Who Magazine, exciting feature by me on the classic story The Sun Makers, rush out and buy it now.

Screaming

Another blog! This time about the recent release of The Worlds of Doctor Who, which includes an episode written by me, The Screaming Skull. The Worlds of Doctor Who commemorates fifteen years of Big Finish Doctor Who adventures, so it was quite an honour to be invited to contribute. I was there, back at the start, at the Sirens of Time launch party which I remember being downstairs in The Corner Store (so it was probably somewhere else). My main memory of the night is having a long chat with Gary Russell about writing a story for Big Finish with Sea Devils in; this may even have been when I was asked to write it. Apart from Gary, I think the only other people I knew at the party were Paul Cornell and Justin Richards (I remember reading the first few pages of Red Dawn). I was a complete newcomer to fandom back then, a bit of a Jonny no-mates. I also recall being terribly impressed and intimidated by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, not daring to eavesdrop on their terribly important conversation. But maybe I’m mixing things up? It was all a long time ago, and I was very, very drunk.

Anyway, if you’d told me back then that I’d still be writing for Big Finish fifteen years later, I’d have been grateful for having someone else to talk to, but would question why your remarkable powers of prophecy weren’t being put to more constructive use. But here I am, fifteen years later, looking barely a week older, writing a story for their anniversary.

The Screaming Skull is the third part of a sequence of adventures, a story in its own right but also an episode of a longer adventure. It features the characters of Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato, who previously appeared in the Companion Chronicles Tales from the Vault and Mastermind, and also features the return of the eponymous UNIT vault. It could be considered the third part in a ‘Vault’ trilogy but that might imply you need to have heard the first two stories to understand the third; that’s absolutely not the case. It’s only a trilogy in the sense that if you have all three stories you should probably listen to them in the right order. But you don’t even have to do that if you don’t want to.

As far as I was concerned (but in no official sense) my story would be representing the Companion Chronicles range, and there was some discussion about which companion we could use. It needed to be part of the UNIT team, I wanted to write for a companion I hadn’t written for before, so I suggested using Mike Yates, as his life after Doctor Who hadn’t been explored in any great depth in previous releases. My intention with the story was to write something intimate and claustrophobic, with plenty of room for atmosphere, suspense and character. I’d been watching a lot of episodes of Brian Clemens’ Thriller around the same time so I suspect that may have rubbed off.

Unfortunately I can’t really tell you any more without spoiling any surprises there may or may not be. Having attended the recording and listened to the finished release, I can tell you it sounds terrific, I’m absolutely delighted with it, and Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso give their best performances yet. And Jamie Glover is spine-chilling as the sinister Mr Rees. At the recent Big Finish Day convention I signed a few copies and the box set looks stunning. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.

And that’s the one thing that hasn’t changed in the last fifteen years. I was so thrilled and excited to be asked by Gary Russell to write that Sea Devil story way back then, and that feeling hasn’t diminished, I still feel as thrilled and excited to be asked to write stories now. And I was so proud of the finished product, seeing the CD sleeve with my name on it, and listening to the actors, director, sound designer and incidental music composer bringing my words to life, and that’s as true now as it was then too. So proud to be working for Big Finish, and so grateful to be asked.

The Worlds of Doctor Who can be ordered here.

Avenging Angels

 

About a month ago, I did a signing at Forbidden Planet to coincide with the new edition of Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel being published. I didn’t mention it here at the time, but I plugged it repeatedly on twitter so you have no excuse. And what else can I say about the book? It’s still probably one of the best things I’ve ever written, certainly the best book, the story draws on my own life so is quite personal to me (and was cathartic to write) without ever being autobiographical (or anyone-else-ographical).

Anyway, you can find my original announcement about writing it here, the blog about it being published here (which includes a link to my fabulous Spotify soundtrack playlist) and there’s a deleted scene here. So today, inspired by the brouhaha about twenty years of Britpop, I thought I’d share with you my original notes for the novel.

As you’ll see, it’s more-or-less a list of contemporary references; not because I planned to include them all (though very nearly did, but wise heads who suffered the first draft told me to take them all out, thank you Matt Kimpton) but simply as triggers for my own memories, my own sense of what ‘then’ felt like at the time.

It also, of course, includes several ‘spoilers’ for the book, so don’t read it if you haven’t read the book yet (seriously, it’s been out for 3 years, in two different covers, on Kindle, on CD and in Italian, you have no excuse). And what’s interesting for me, if for no-one else, is all the bits that got changed or omitted along the way (i.e. one of their university friends coming out as gay, another one committing suicide, an appearance by the Angels on Bonfire night ). But the main thing is that in making these notes, it really helped me get to the heart of the characters and put flesh on the bones (sorry about the metaphor crunch); it was incredibly useful for me to write stuff knowing what was going on ‘outside’ of the books remit, both in the world and in the characters’ lives. I recommend it, as an approach.  Anyway, here goes:

Mark Jason Whitaker (born 23 November 1973) and Rebecca Annabel Jones (born 12 August 1974)

1993 May – So Young

Meet at Warwick University, Labour club, mutual friends party, hall of residence. Mark is going out with Sophie Kendall, Rebecca is going out with Dennis McCormack (and called Bex).  Get on really well, each pretends to be single when they both have significant others. Become friends. Dennis possessive, patronising, Sophie jealous, insecure. Bars at WU: Mandela’s Bar, Harvey’s Diner, Loxley in Westwood, Wayne’s World II, Tocil Lake, Saturday whip-round, The Airport Bar, computer rooms near library, Warwick Boar newspaper. Echobelly playing at Saturday whip-round, going to be bigger than Suede or Blur; Oasis played there the previous year, Sophie didn’t think much of them.

Events: FA Cup Final replay, 19 May, Arsenal 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1

Newbury by-election, Norman Lamont ‘Je Ne Regrette Rien’, unemployment 2.9million

Death of Charlotte Hughes. John Major prime minister. Sonia Better The Devil You Know Eurovision party. Adverts Reebok, Hale & Pace Clorets, Weetabix Robin Hood,Tango, Lion Bars, Wayne’s World video, Heineken. Boddingtons.

Shop at Safeway, Kwik Save. Usenet email internet.

Films: Groundhog Day, Indecent Proposal. TV: Press Gang, Men Behaving Badly, The Chart Show, Spitting Image, Going Live. Computer game Sega Megadrive. Mr Blobby. Tongue/lip studs. Shaved patterns on heads. Paintball. Chris Evans on The Big Breakfast. Steve Coogan. Jonathan Ross’ Saturday Zoo.

Other hits: Spin Doctors Two Princes, New Order Regret, REM Everybody Hurts, UB40 I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You

1994 June – Don’t Turn Around

Club-night, Friday. Mark living with Sophie, Rebecca (now single), Rajeed and Lucy Fisher. House in Leamington Spa, student digs, terraced house. Night out clubbing at the students’ union, rave music. Marketplace. Mark falls out with Sophie, walks home with Rebecca through campus to get night bus. Drunken kiss. Future Mark comes back, this is first time he sees them, earlier self, Angels in the club and on the campus. Both still in Labour club, have been on demos, also go to gigs together.

Reading Trainspotting, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Yellow pages advert JR Hartley. Michael Barrymore live. Bodum coffee makers. Levis shrink to fit. Olde English Cider.  Portable CD player top present. Films: Four Weddings And A Funeral, The Hudsucker Proxy, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

TV Brookside Beth Jordach, The Day Today, The High Life, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, X-Files Adverts for National Lottery. Wonder Bra. Magic eye pictures. Fridge writing. Cilla Black. Michael Barrymore. Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer. Run up to European elections, after John Smith’s death, Tony Blair, John Prescott leadership election.

Other hits: Let Loose Crazy For You, Grid Swamp Thing, Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around, Dawn Penn You Don’t Love Me (No No No)

1995 April – Back For Good

Mark still with Sophie, falling out, Rebecca now with Anthony, final year, exams, Lucy now with Jane, lesbian couple. Anthony rugby type, glowing red, cheeks, public school. Mark now in love with Rebecca, Sophie jealous about this, Mark has to deny it, he talks to Rebecca (now called Becky) about his problems with Sophie, just mates, best mates, asks her advice.

Kenny Everett dies of AIDS. Oklahoma city bombing. Adverts Organics, Chicken Tonight, Dime Bars with Harry Enfield. Ferrero Rocher. Cellnet. Reading Virgin Suicides. Internet yahoo, ebay, amazon. Films: Outbreak. TV A Bit Of Fry And Laurie (final series) Supermarket Sweep, Friends, Roseanne, Fast Show. Army surplus clothes, combat boots. Chris Evans morning show Radio 1.

Other songs: East 17 Let It Rain, Boo Radleys Wake Up Boo!, Corona Baby Baby

1996 February – Don’t Look Back In Anger

Wintry weather, living in Coventry, Mark splits up with Sophie at last, she’s already started going out with someone called Daniel. Mark working in telesales/data entry, having graduated, Rebecca doing a Phd in Ancient History (or Rubble).  She’s still with Anthony, not working out, they sleep together, when drunk, Rebecca the next morning says she’s with Anthony, doesn’t want to hurt him, pretend it never happened.

Reading High Fidelity. Docklands bomb DLR. British rail privatisation. Scott Report - Arms to Iraq inquiry – Matrix Churchill. Take That announce split. Diana and Charles announce divorce. Eurostar break down. Deep Blue beats Kasparov. Adverts Eurostar. Eurotrash presenter guy Antoine Des Caunes. Crunchy Nut cornflakes. Mobile phones everywhere from now on. Mercury Phones. Hooch popular from now. Film: 12 Monkeys TV Our Friends In The North, Ballykissangel, TFI Friday, Frasier, Game Sony Playstation, Father Ted, Alcopops, Stack trainers, Floppy White Hats, Inflatable chairs. Eddie Izzard. Mark & Lard in the afternoon. Zoe Ball.

Other songs: Lighthouse Family Lifted, Joan Osborne One Of Us, Robert Miles Children

1997 December – Angels

Run up to Xmas, Mark working in administration for Housing Association in Coventry, Rebecca away, Mark now with another girl, Kathy, not really working out. Depressed, is this all life is, but then his future self starts helping him out and improving his life (somehow!). Bumps into Rebecca in the shops, she’s now engaged to Anthony, congratulations, going away for Christmas, Mark going back to his parents, his dad’s not well, might have to spend Christmas in hospital, difficult time.

Britannia decommissioned. Reading Bridget Jones Diary. Kyoto protocol. Adverts Royal Mail. Megane Classic.  Allied Dunbar. Churchill Insurance. Carphone warehouse. Sony Minidisc. Internet websites start taking off. Reading Island of The Day Before Umberto Eco. Film posters: Titanic, Tomorrow Never Dies, in cinema Bean, Good Will Hunting. TV Robot Wars, Channel 5 first year, Fifteen To One, World In Action, This Morning With Richard And Judy, Computer Game Tomb Raider, Nintendo 64, Teletubbies, Henna tattoos, black-rimmed spectacles, mini rucksack bags. Tamagotchi, laser pens. Lily Savage, Jack Dee.

Other songs: Spice Girls Too Much, All Saints Never Ever, Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!

1998 August – Perfect Ten

Rebecca and Anthony have split up shortly before going on holiday to Rome together, so Mark, who split up with Kathy back in February, around the same time as his father’s death, agrees to go with her. They’re sharing a room, visiting sights, doing the tourist thing, platonic. Future benefactor still helping him out, wallet stolen by Trevi Fountain, finds another, Angels in the Capitoline Museum, late evening, they see the sun setting over the forum, remark that for the first time both of us are single, shall we fix that? Kiss, fall in love, this is the moment their story begins. Rebecca is now called Rebecca.

News: Iraq disarmament UNSCOM teams; Monica Lewinsky Bill Clinton news breaks. Improper physical relationship. Opal fruits become Starburst. Internet Google starts. Reading The Beach, reading What A Carve Up by Jonathan Coe. Film: The Truman Show, There’s Something About Mary TV So Graham Norton, Time Team, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, South Park, Ally McBeal, Harry Enfield, Zoe Ball in mornings.

Other songs: Boyzone No Matter What, Stardust Music Sounds Better With You, Corrs What Can I Do

1999 November – Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart

Mark and Rebecca moving in together in flat in Kensal Rise, North London. Still very much in love. Renting a place near the station. Saving up for a wedding. All very stressful, moving house, but they’re okay, not falling out. Fireworks night. Angels visible on the street, in adjoining garden. Millennium approaching.

Gary Glitter in news. London eye in position. Christmas present, first three Harry Potter books. Mars probes lost. Adverts Woolworths. C & A. Cocopops. Barclaycard.Vodafone. Sony camcorder. Natwest. Kit Kat chunky introduced. Reading Underworld by Don DeLillo: Films: Fight Club, The World Is Not Enough, posters Sleepy Hollow, Stuart Little. TV Walking With Dinosaurs, Cold Feet, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Can’t Cook Won’t Cook, Sex And The City, Pokemon, Folding scooters, Red Bull, text messaging, Bill Bailey, Ali G.

Other songs: Len Steal My Sunshine, Melanie C Northern Star, William Orbit Barber’s Adagio For Strings

2000 November – One More Time

Mark and Rebecca’s wedding in a church in a village near Chichester, where Rebecca’s parents live. Friends from university include Rajeed, Lucy and Jane, Dennis McCormack (now gay) plus other work friends of Mark’s, now working for a solicitor’s office (thanks to future self) and earning enough for a mortgage. Mark misses father, his mother is there, alone, plus siblings. The angels attack etc. during the reception in a marquee in Rebecca’s house – her dad’s the vicar, they live in the vicarage, a house with massive lawn etc. Rebecca now working for academic publishing firm based in Camden.

Michael Douglas marries Catherine Zeta-Jones. Raid on diamond at Millennium Dome. Adverts Budweiser Frogs, have a say in London Mayor. One2One. Direct Line. Wassup advert. Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. Cinema Meet The Parents, Bedazzled, Charlie’s Angels. TV BBC Breakfast starts, BBC News at Ten, Family Guy, Spongebob Squarepants, The West Wing, Ant & Dec.

Other songs: Madonna Don’t Tell Me, Toploader Dancin’ In The Moonlight, Coldplay Trouble

2001 May – Don’t Stop Moving

Where Mark works, there’s a fire, and he’s caught in the blaze, after helping one of the older partners. They’re trapped together, with the Angels outside – visible to Rebecca – and the fire engine arrives. Future Mark has arranged a way of helping his former self, he loses consciousness, the Doctor and company help him escape in the TARDIS after he’s knocked out. Angels in the building whilst it is on fire, waiting for a paradox. Future Mark’s folder is destroyed in the blaze.

John Prescott punches a protestor for throwing egg, end of foot and mouth crisis.  Reading Timeline by Michael Crichton. Films Bridget Jones Diary, posters for The Mummy Returns and Shrek. Gets a DVD player for the first time. TV At Home With The Braithwaites, Big Brother, The Weakest Link, I Love The 80s. Frank Skinner. Sara Cox.

Other songs: Geri Halliwell It’s Raining Men, MOP Cold As Ice, Sugababes Run For Cover

2002 April – Fell In Love With A Girl

Mark and Rebecca still good, Mark’s doing extremely well in his job, looking at buying a place, Rebecca’s now got a lecturing job at UCL, thinking of children, trying but no luck yet, Lucy and Jane have adopted a baby, Dennis has settled down, Rajeed killed himself around Christmas, drinking problem. Apart from that, all very positive, though Mark has had an affair at work, complicated. Rebecca has been in a road accident, knocked over by a taxi, broken shoulder bone, otherwise fine, Mark worried about her crossing the road.

Queen mother’s funeral. Ipods launched. Reading Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. Film Ice Age, ET re-release, The Time Machine. TV Footballer’s Wives, The Office, 24, Alias, What Not To Wear, Peter Kay, V Graham Norton. Digital radio.

Other songs: Travis Flowers In The Window, Will Young Evergreen, Natalia Imbruglia Wrong Impression

2003 April – Out Of Time

Mark and Rebecca still trying, no luck, have moved and have bought a place in Crystal Palace. Mark is at home, working, while Rebecca is visiting her parents in the village near Chichester. Dropping hints about grandchildren, Mark has ended affair, nothing really happened, Rebecca has been having bad headaches, undiagnosed... and driving home one night, she is killed in a road accident, head-on collision with a lorry. Funeral the following week.

Gulf war – Saddam Hussein’s statue toppled, Baghdad captured, British forces take Basra. Human genome completed. Film Bend It Like Beckham. TV The Osbornes, Spooks, Top Gear, Harry Hill’s TV Burp

Other songs: Christina Aguilera Beautiful; Busted Year 3000; Blue You Make Me Wanna 

2011 July – No title

Mark is now a partner of the legal firm, thrown himself into his legal work, doesn’t quite make connections with women, has been on dates but no luck, still friends with Rebecca’s family, move on say his friends – Sophie is back in Mark’s life, she’s divorced, but there’s nothing there. Few friends, still hasn’t got over the shock, still misses Rebecca every day, thought it would get easier, living on his own in a flat in Honor Oak Park overlooking London, looking towards centre of town, Shard etc. People tell me it’s been eight years... it doesn’t feel like eight years. Has a photo of her on his desk, talks about her in the present tense, bit young for you, this was taken a while ago, oh I get it, my wife’s the same, once they get that ring on their finger they let themselves go. Gets a Chinese takeaway. Still in contact with Rebecca’s parents and younger sister Claire.

Newsreaders – check as and when.

Tomorrow I'll post a few other bits and pieces from the early stages.

Swamp Thing

Another review from the archives, from the Doctor Who Magazine second Complete Fourth Doctor special.

The Power of Kroll

Apology in advance. This is going to be another of those I-remember-what-I was-doing-when-I-first-saw-it-I-was-eating-a-peanut-butter-sandwich reviews. I know you’re sick of them, it’s all got a bit silly - I feel sorry for whoever in this issue has to pretend that they’ve never looked at a potted cactus in the same way since Meglos.

But there is a quintessential-magic-y reason why I’ve chosen to write about Kroll. And I did choose it. You see, there’s a pecking order to these reviews – the most important people get to go first and choose the best stories. Which is why Russell T Davies is doing The Androids of Tara.

However, even if I was as important as Russell T Davies, I would still’ve chosen ‘Kroll’. Why? Because I think it’s great. Or rather, the five-year-old me thought it was great– and when it comes to Doctor Who, the five-year-old-me gets the casting vote. He has better taste.

True story. Around the time when this story was broadcast, the district nurse came to my school. Five-year-old me was placed at one end of a corridor with an eye chart at the other. The school nurse said, ‘Read out the letters as I point at them with the pencil.’ And I said, ‘What pencil?’

Yes, my eyesight was bad. So bad, in fact, that I thought the scenes where Kroll rises up out of the swamp were convincing. I remember, I was so terrified I nearly choked on my peanut butter sandwich.

Admittedly looking at it now it’s a disappointing special effect. Well, of course it is, it’s a special effect in a Doctor Who story. Criticising a Doctor Who story for having disappointing special effects is like criticising Citizen Kane for not featuring CGI dinosaurs. It’s the last refuge of the lazy, the drab and the pointless.  If I had a bullet for each person who criticised Doctor Who stories for its special effects then I wouldn’t have any bullets left over after I’d shot them all.

I don’t mind that the story is a bit seen-it-all-before, because at the time I hadn’t seen-it-all-before. I loved the bit at the end of part 2 where the bloke gets dragged to his death by a tentacle. And the bit at the end of part 3 where the bloke gets dragged to his death by a tentacle. I loved all the tentacle deaths. And the sonar image, and the heartbeat in the pipes…

Yes, the five-year-old me loved every moment of it. Even though I could make out nothing more than an exciting, roaring blur. Whether I enjoy it now as an adult is irrelevant – it was being made for kids in 1978, it wasn’t being made for me in 2004. Of course, now I can appreciate it for its thematic depth and use of allegory. I could, but I don’t, because I don’t watch Doctor Who for thematic depth and use of allegory, I still watch it to see blokes being dragged to their death by tentacles.

However, should I wish to go back to being that five-year-old me again, I don’t need to wear rose-tinted spectacles. I just take out my contacts. And there it is, back again, as indistinct as ever. The exciting, roaring blur.

After all, who hasn’t re-enacted the famous Kroll-rising-out-of-the-swamp scene on their own in the bath? Summoning the beast from the murky depths by shouting ‘Kroll! Kroll! Kroll!’

Okay, so that’s just me, then.

Killer

I was sad to hear of the passing of comics writer Steve Moore. One brief footnote in his illustrious and prolific career was his work on the Doctor Who Weekly comic, writing both the back-up strips and the lead. The back-up strips had an odd format, presenting further adventures around Doctor Who monsters and villains, presenting former antagonists as protagonists. What they did for any young reader was to create the sense of a ‘world of Doctor Who’, of a fascinating universe above and beyond the bits encountered by the Doctor on television. Monsters not glimpsed on screen for over ten years (literally a lifetime as far as readers were concerned) were brought to life in thrilling escapades of their own, and all on the basis of a few murky production stills, a novelisation, and the writer’s own memory.

Two of Steve Moore’s finest creations in the back-up strip were Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer and Kroton the Cyberman. Abslom Daak was an unrepentant psychopath, sent in lieu of execution to a Dalek-occupied world to cause as much mayhem with his chain-sword as possible. It’s hard to think a more exciting premise. Kroton, meanwhile, was a Cyberman who developed a ‘soul’ and emotions; he came into his own as a protagonist of his own adventure Ship of Fools, a haunting re-working of the Flying Dutchman legend. It’s a testament to the strength of these two creations that they had a life beyond these brief appearances in the Doctor Who Weekly comic strip, Abslom Daak returning in a number of adventures in the main strip, and Kroton eventually becoming a companion.

The great thing about both the first Abslom Daak story and Ship of Fools is that they both have gut-churning twists on the final page. And that’s one of the two things I learned from Steve Moore; that comic strips can pack an emotional punch, and can move you to laughter, nightmares or even tears. In the latest Doctor Who Magazine I counted the shock ending of Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer as one of the best ‘Dalek moments’ of all time.

The other thing I learned comes from (in my humble opinion) his best work on the magazine, the lead comic strip Spider-God. It’s an extraordinary demonstration of economic storytelling, and storytelling not through dialogue, but through a succession of shocking, enchanting, terrifying images that still stick with me thirty years later; the eerie silent village with its blank-eyed occupants; the night sky full of stars and strange moons; the emergence of the spider; the cocoons dangling from its web; the hatching egg; the final stunning metamorphosis. You could remove all the dialogue and still follow the story. And it packs one hell of a punch, ending with the Doctor plaintively remarking ‘Now do you see what you’ve done?’ followed by a single panel of Commander Frederic dropping his laser gun. One of the finest moments in the strip ever.

(I always wondered whether the planet was intended to be Vortis. And whether the story’s conclusion meant that the butterfly-people would become extinct. But unanswered questions are good.)

But Spider-God was just one story amongst many; Dragon’s Claw with its wonderful character of the ancient hermit; Time Witch, the definitive fantasy-universe story; The Collector, with it’s mind-boggling time paradox; the virtual-reality nightmare of Dreamers of Death. All gloriously rendered by Dave Gibbons but the product of the vivid, mind-expanding, inspiring imagination of Steve Moore.

His Doctor Who lead strips can be found in the Dragon’s Claw collection, which I strongly recommend tracking down.